The Union Cabinet, on Thursday, approved a proposal for the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences to take over the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS), Thiruvananthapuram.
CESS will considerably augment the Ministry’s research programmes in the field of earth system sciences, as the various units and centres of the centre are focussed on R&D on the ocean and atmosphere components of the earth system, and there is no unit that is actively pursuing research with specific aspects of solid earth.
Announcing the decision, an official press release said the total estimated budget requirements of CESS will be Rs.128.67 crore for the remaining period of the 12th Five Year Plan. “Research activities of CESS will cover the whole country with particular focus on South India,” it said.
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PTI adds: The Kerala government had come up with the proposal for the takeover. The Ministry had then constituted an expert committee to examine the request.
“The main objective of the proposal is to conduct and promote basic and applied advanced research in the frontier areas of earth sciences with particular emphasis on solid earth,” the statement said.
The centre will carry out multidisciplinary research in the frontier areas of solid earth science and provide services on a nationwide scale by applying this knowledge for sustainable development of natural resources and management of natural hazards. The proposed thrust areas of research will be crustal evolution and geodynamics, sedimentology and depositional processes, coastal dynamics and cloud microphysics.
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Research and development activities of CESS would benefit millions of people across the country by way of increased knowledge of earth processes, better predictive systems for natural hazards, development of natural resources management plans and increased access to thematic maps.